


You are made of lavender

by venomhwa



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, Flowers, Fluff, Jung Wooyoung is a tattoo artist, Language of Flowers, M/M, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:54:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22023673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/venomhwa/pseuds/venomhwa
Summary: San is made of lavender and Wooyoung couldn't adore the flower more.orSan is going to do his first tattoo with his favorite tattoo artist, not planning to tattoo Wooyoung's face in his heart in the process.
Relationships: Choi San & Jung Wooyoung, Choi San/Jung Wooyoung
Comments: 5
Kudos: 170





	You are made of lavender

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to yet another fanfic!! 
> 
> This story was written for the Atiny Secret Santa I organized so I wanna thank everyone that joined the event :)
> 
> This is for you, Noah. I hope you like it!

“You’re really going to spend all that money on a tattoo?” Hongjoong questioned San, eyes not leaving his laptop.

San had just announced to his friends that he had finally saved enough money to make the first tattoo with the tattoo artist whose Instagram feed he had been stalking months prior.

“Yeah! It’s one of my items on my bucket list.” He remembered the list laying written in one of his tiny notebooks he absolutely adored. His bucket list’s notebook had a golden cover and had a few items jotted down, mainly big dreams he hadn’t had a plan to make them come true. The tattoo was surely an attainable wish. San loved tattoos, it was definitely a turn-on when meeting people. When he was younger, he saw all these virile men adorned with such jaw-dropping pieces of art, San could not just ignore how they surely would make him look more manly. However, as leaves did their natural cycle, moons were born and disappeared and time did its magic, San didn't want tattoos to look masculine anymore. 

As he slowly found himself freed from gender roles (it was a never-ending process), he found himself fascinated by photography upon seeing one particular photo of a beautiful river from his hometown at night time. It was taken at the right place at the right time. San just fell in love. And with it came the obsession with cameras. His parents bought one that San could use anytime he wanted. When he started attending university, his parents let him borrow the old camera since they could not afford to buy one at that moment. But with a promise to make San's next Christmas unforgettable, a new and better camera was on its way. San made sure to state clearly that he'd help out with the purchase, feeling bad for making his parents buy it for him. However, his parents didn't mind as he already was paying his monthly tuition and the dorm with his salary. 

"Just how much do you like this tattoo artist? It must be a whole lot to be willing to pay that much money for his tattoo." Seonghwa joined the conversation putting his book down to grab the still warm cappuccino he ordered at their favorite spot to chill study, the café spot next to Seonghwa's flat. 

"You know I really like his art style. And he barely does the same tattoo twice so it's even more special if he does it on me."

"I forgot, what was the tattoo again?" Hongjoong finally rose his head from the laptop, weary expression adorning his eyes. San took his phone out of his black tote bag to show them the design, the one that came out some weeks ago. 

It was simple, just very colorful, it was San's style. A long stem from which blossomed flowers, it was perfect to be done in remote areas or mostly hidden places such as below the chest, or behind the ear. The latter was the place San had in mind, the boy always having found tattoos behind the ear or even on the ear lobe astonishing. San just liked unconventional things, everything was more enjoyable if unconventional and that was the reason all the decisions he had done so far were unexpected. During high school, his excellent grades in Formal Sciences pointed out a promising future as a mathematic major. Despite his brilliant capacity to break through difficult equations and formulas, his camera lenses took all his attention. During freshman year, he found himself visiting a club fair, coming back to the dorms at the end of the day as part of the campus’ theatre group and the chess club. That's how he met Yunho, theatre major and Jongho, pharmaceutical major. And now, once again, San lived up for the unconventional pattern no one stuck on him, not even himself unaware of his actions. 

"That's really beautiful." Seonghwa’s features softened for a second as he admired the beauty of the design. Hongjoong nodded beside him, mouths curling in approvance.  
"And it must hurt so much." Hongjoong raised his eyebrows. "You're doing it behind your ear right? I heard that area hurts a lot. Is your tolerance to pain even that high?" San scoffed at that, ready to defend himself when Seonghwa intervened. 

"Joongie, remember that time we three went for a late-night park visit? San got on the swings, was projected off them and landed on his chin. He didn't even cry then or when the doctor was stitching him up." 

"Oh, you're right. San's going to do it with ease." Hongjoong gave up, the reminder of that awful night was a signal to disconnect from the conversation and continue working on his paper. “But weren’t we high?”

“Who cares about details?” San pouted at the crucial detail of the story. Even without weed, the boy knew he was good at handling pain. 

"When are you doing it? Do you want company?" 

"Tomorrow, at 3 pm. I can go alone. it's fine, it's kind of far away from this area and you both have classes anyway." 

Seonghwa hummed in response. "Just text us when you arrive and how it's going. We want all the details." 

"Don't you mean just you?" Hongjoong retorted with a mischievous smile, always up to annoy Seonghwa. 

"Nope." 

ー

It was finally time. San couldn't say he wasn't nervous. Not when he stopped on his tracks in front of the modern-looking establishment, reading the outside board with the name of the studio "Ink It" on it. Below could be read the name of the owner and tattoo artist that San came to meet today, Jung Wooyoung. On his Instagram official page, the boy just used Woo as a nickname even though his whole name was widely known. This was also the same boy that was super famous for his creations, and the boy that won 4 times in a row the Best Tattoo Artist of the Year award, this year would be the fifth time surely. San had followed his Instagram page for months already, the tattoos speaking directly to his heart. His art style was just San's favorite: colorful, minimalistic, deeply connected with flowers and nature itself. He'd also occasionally share his artwork too, some random doodles and rarely full oil paint canvas with flowers San didn't know the name of. Somehow, Wooyoung made San think he was missing out.

And so there he was, ten minutes earlier, legs unable to move, phone vibrating with a text from a worried Seonghwa and five minutes later another from the theatre group chat.  
The moment San decided to enter the studio, someone pushed the door open, centimeters close to hitting his face. What he met was not someone random, it was Jung Wooyoung, in flesh. San had to take a moment to absorb the scream that only his mind had the displeasure to witness. He could recognize Wooyoung from afar, the selfies from Instagram too good to be forgotten. His dark soft eyes, the mole, the tattoos he had randomly assorted in his two arms, the blonde bleached hair falling perfectly on his frame, the green lenses mixed with the smokey eyeliner he'd do daily. All the traits of Wooyoung physique were spot on. 

After a two-second awkward silence where none talked, San mumbled softly an apology, making way for Wooyoung to pass, holding the glass door for him. The boy flashed a smile before passing through without a word. Was it possible for someone to steal hearts with a single curve on the lips? San was sure that that was indeed plausible, legs feeling weak like he had just witnessed a lion running towards him. Not that he knew how that truly felt like. He kept holding the door, eyes too focused on the boy walking like the street was his own runaway. This appointment just turned dangerous for a whole different reason. 

The sound of a car honking woke him up from the dreamland Wooyoung threw him in, quickly stepping in the tattoo studio. He immediately recognized the receptionist, not because of Instagram, but because they were classmates during high school. 

"San!" Before the boy could look around the studio, the loud voice perked his attention. Yeosang cheerfully greeted his old friend with a huge grin playing in his features. They hadn’t seen each other since they graduated from high school, the thought of sending messages completely flying out of their heads. None of them were very good at keeping in touch with old friends. Still, reconnecting felt so familiar, as if they hadn’t been separated for two years. Yeosang had dyed his hair pink, San almost commented but kept the compliment in his mind. 

"Yeosangie? Long time no see." San raised his voice in utter confusion, the other boy walking out of behind the counter to hug him fully. "Do you work here?" 

"No, I just come here sometimes to sit behind this desk and take care of appointments. As a hobby." Yeosang always had a thing for absolute sarcasm, San had almost forgotten about it. "You rolled your eyes, I missed your eye-rolling. It made me feel so pleased with my jokes."

"I'm glad you're still the same." The photography major breathed out, shaking his head. "Your university campus is nearby right?" 

"Yeah, that's why I found this part-time job. The room where I live is actually in this building too so it's a win-win situation." 

"You're so lucky. I live in the dorms so my part-time is not exactly close." Yeosang sat back in his spot as San sighed, leaning on the counter with both arms. 

"If my campus had dorms I wouldn't be paying for a room believe me." Yeosang chuckled with a bittersweet tone. "So you have an appointment scheduled right?" he averted his attention to the slow computer, it really needed a new substitute. 

"Yes, Choi San."

"Yeah. I can't believe I took care of your appointment and didn't realize it was you." The boy sighed as kept typing. "Wooyoung just left to drink coffee but he will right back." San hummed, the thought of Wooyoung's tattoos clouding his mind again. "Is this your first tattoo?" San couldn't tell if that was a professional question or just Yeosang's curiosity. It was both. 

"It is, I'm nervous as fuck." San confessed with a wry smile.

"Don't worry, it will be over in a blink of an eye." Yeosang reassured him, the words familiar in his tongue already. 

"Have you done any tattoos Yeosangie?"

"No, but I'm planning to do one in the near future. One matching with my grandpa." The sudden memories of Yeosang's grandfather popped up in his mind, as it always has been his life support, as Yeosang's parents traveled a lot due to their job. Sweet memories of afternoons he spent studying at Yeosang's grandparents’ house played like an old VCR in his mind, the man would always bake chocolate chip cookies for them. Sometimes when he slept over, the widowed man would get at least two blankets for each other to make sure no one got cold during the night. That made San think of his own grandparents that he hadn’t seen in so long. They lived outside of the city so it was only during family occasions that he could spend time with them. However, the boy loved them nonetheless, they treated him so well.

"That's so cute!" San cooed, smile stretching from ear to ear forming two beautiful crescents. Before he could continue the conversation, the front door opened again, the blazing sun suddenly filling the space with its warmth. “If you do it, you gotta show me. You haven’t changed your phone number right?”

“It’s still the same. We should keep in touch for real. Ah, Wooyoung-ah, your next appointment is here." Yeosang smiled, both boys suddenly turning their attention to San, the boy bowed to greet the artist. 

"Great, let's go then." Yeosang shot a sympathetic smile at San before they left to Wooyoung's working room. He couldn't tell what emotion he felt the strongest upon entering the station: it was decorated the same way as the hall. In the walls were Wooyoung’s art pieces proudly exposed, oil canvas displayed minimally around the room. Wide transparent displayers contained various tattoo utensils, neatly cleaned and exhibited. Soft music played through speakers from one of Wooyoung’s favorite playlists. The black leather chair where clients sat was already sanitized, ready to receive the next victim. 

"Choi San, right?" Wooyoung input the information in his laptop, eyes still had not fully analyzed the other man. Only when San murmured a shy “yes” was when the artist put his observant eyes on him. But unlike San, Wooyoung didn’t let his feelings be on the open. He had learned how to be professional through the small number of years he had worked with people, not letting to be fazed with his clients’ beauty was already a piece of cake. Despite this, Wooyoung wasn’t prepared for San’s glistening eyes, from which a curious shyness poured. He was so different from Wooyoung.

"Welcome to my studio, you can sit here." The voice was warm, eyes darting to the materials he needed to gather. San walked steadily to the chair, sitting stiffly as if he needed permission to relax on it. The boy was never this awkward with strangers but Wooyoung’s aura made him feel so small. The blonde showed him the laptop screen. "So… From when we talked, this is the design you want, correct?" San nodded eagerly. "Behind your ear?" Another nod followed. "It's your first time doing a tattoo?" 

San really wanted to answer in any other way than nods or quick 'yes’ but he had to admit, he was intimidated. Wooyoung was in his Inhabitat whilst San felt like he had just walked in a lion’s den. Not that he knew how that truly felt like. Watching that wildlife documentary yesterday at 3 am wasn’t the brightest idea. 

Still, one thing was for sure, he wasn't expecting Wooyoung to be this short. Not that he was particularly short, but when people admire someone we always think the person is high and tall, unable to be reached. At that moment, San was so close to him, their heights very similar, the man almost cute in San's eyes. No, scratch the almost from that sentence. San found Wooyoung cute, adorable, at the same time, so attractive and sexy. His mind was going places as if he had any chances with someone as cool as Wooyoung.  
"Despite the pain, it will hurt a bit you already know, it's a small tattoo so I'm sure it's doable for you." Wooyoung commented as he grabbed the stencil to draw the tattoo primarily. San then thought of something, his overgrown mullet was on its way of the work. Wooyoung must have guessed San's sudden concern since his next words were: “Could you perhaps tie your hair or clip it with bobby pins? I might have some, wait." San didn't have any of the two options, and so he waited for the other to come back. When he was about to raise his hand to catch the pins, Wooyoung did it for him, hands so light in his soft hair, seamlessly catching the strands and clipping it in place. "Done." He couldn’t think that was special treatment. He really couldn’t. But that was precisely what his delusional brain cells were transmitting.

There was a body mirror next to the chair San was seated on and so he rotated his head to see Wooyoungs' work. "Wow, now this is a hairstyle." San let out, immediately regretting as he didn't want to sound overly familiar or creepy. Nonetheless, Wooyoung laughed, louder than he was expecting, causing San to panic internally. Wooyoung was proving to be much more than what he had portrayed to be on his Instagram page. For a second, he wanted to slap himself, how could he be thinking of someone like that he had just met? Someone so out of reach, he reminded himself. 

"San, I'll firstly trace the design and only then I’ll begin.” San nodded, eyes flooding with anticipation. As asked, San relaxed on the chair, doing his best to sit still, eyes concentrating on the canvas his peripheral vision could reach. While Wooyoung drew the flower he made the usual small talk, San responded curtly. He shared that he was a sophomore photography major, had twenty years old, lived in the dorms with his other friends. Wooyoung hummed attentively as he talked, San was unsure if the other was really listening or just pretending to show interest. He always had the habit to assume everyone serving costumers were just faking sympathy and couldn’t care less. He knew how it was, he himself worked in a small convenience store. He didn’t spare two glances at the customers, his mind always hovering over his coursework and personal problems. Even so, he couldn’t tell if Wooyoung was genuinely interested or faking it. Maybe Wooyoung was just overly nice with everyone. Or maybe he was interested in San, that was his delusional side talking, San never gave those brain cells much attention when making overall judgments.

Wooyoung finished the design. He flipped out his phone to take a picture of it before starting the real process. “It looks like this, it is like what we agreed on?” San nodded, suddenly struck by the realization that this was happening. Finally, a tattoo, the first of many. He had already many plans for tattoos, however, he wasn’t sure if his will to do them would remain that convicted after having the first experience. “Then, I will start now. Tell me if it’s too much, we can take breaks even if the tattoo won’t take long.”  
When Wooyoung put the needle on San’s skin it stang. A lot. He couldn’t help but flinch slightly, eyes shutting for a hot second before getting just slightly used to the feeling of the needle working its way. “Do you want to talk?” San understood it must be a normal procedure to try their best to distract their client from the pain. It also burned, even when the pain seemed to become more bearable, it got worse again. 

“You can do the talking.” San answered, the pain clouding his better judgment to continue answering with short words. “Tell me about the craziest tattoo you have ever done.”  
Wooyoung was frankly surprised, almost too much to not know what to say. “Well, nowadays I only do my artwork but when I was just starting I used to work in a smaller studio with other tattoo artists, I’d do almost anything I was asked to. I had to start somewhere right? So once, we had this drunk dude coming in my late-night shift and he asked to tattoo a butt in his nape.”

“What?!” San raised his voice wanting to laugh loudly but not wanting to move much. Not as if he could, Wooyoung was resting his working palm on his head, the other delicately on his neck. The lamplight was directly above them, it was too hot, San could almost feel his forehead sweating from its intensity. Random thoughts were often shaken off by the sharp sting he felt behind his ear. He hadn’t produced a unique sound of painful discomfort, much to Wooyoung’s surprise.

“Yeah, it was awful. I did it nonetheless and I have to say: it was a nice butt.” San’s eyes parted from the wall in front of him to try and look the best he could to Wooyoung, not successfully doing so but understanding that the other had a huge smile in his face. San thought he seemed like a really chill person, his heart was relieved the initial awkwardness had quieted down.

“When did you start tattooing professionally?”

“Three years ago? It wasn’t that long but I used to do it at home with a small kit. So some of my tattoos are kinda fucked up. Maybe I should get something done to cover them.” Wooyoung explained, his first tattoo was a small compass in his hip. He could have chosen something more simple but Wooyoung always had always loved challenges. In other words, the compass could use some improvements. 

“You did tattoos at home? To yourself?” 

“Yeah, I have been always interested in tattoos I thought they made me manly but then I started to realize they didn’t have anything to do with manliness. They were just the way I wanted to express myself so now I do my art on other people.”

“That’s crazy I could never do this to myself.”

“Why? Is it very painful? You’re handling so well though. Last time I did a tattoo in this place the client was practically squirming on the seat, and we had to take three breaks.”  
“I’m not that comfortable with needles, to be honest.”

“I couldn’t tell, you’re not even making a noise.”

“I guess I’m tolerant to pain. But it’s hurting like a bitch I’ll tell you that.” 

“Oh I know, I also have one in this spot too.” 

“You do?”

“Yeah, It’s a little Chinese dragon. I will show when I’m done. 5 more minutes.” 

“A dragon…” San thought out loud. “Is it your Chinese sign?”

“Oh, no. Well, I don’t know my Chinese zodiac sign to be honest. I know my astrological one and that’s it.” He clarified later. “I’m a Sagittarius.”

“Oh…” San loved zodiac signs, knew a lot about most of them, especially his own of course, Cancer. So, of course, he had a vague idea about the compatibility of their signs which was pretty low. He tried to not say a thing about it even though he felt like screaming. It was the first time he wanted to declare his dislike for the signs. How could they betray them like that? He had to schedule a tarot reading with Yunho as soon as possible. 

For a moment, San let himself be immersed in the R&B track that mindlessly played in the room. It was hard, it was very painful. San was almost regretting this wish, unsure if all the pain was going to be worth the torture. His mind also began to wonder how could people do so many tattoos when it hurt this much, especially Wooyoung. He tried to recall the pictures he had seen of his arms, his visual memory blurringly bringing the arms to his vision. The one San could remember without even having to see was the four arms' tattoo. In attempting to make a silly joke, Wooyoung had tattooed four arms on his forearm and San couldn't get enough of it. It was genius and at the same time so dumb. Wooyoung had a small frog next to the four arms' tattoo and below a small dandelion, his favorite flower. There were more but San couldn't recall well, the pain was too distractive. He sighed heavily, just wanting it to end but still holding his suffering inside. 

The moment San was about to form tears, Wooyoung finished his work. "It looks amazing." he announced, San left with the unanswered question about if he was talking about the tattoo in him or solely his artwork. Again, wooyoung took a picture, this time an Instagram worthy one. 

"Oh my god." Was all San could say when Wooyoung showed him how stunning it looked. Scratch that. The pain was totally worth it. "It's the cutest." 

ー

Two weeks have passed since San had done the tattoo. It was healing pretty well, no infections on sight as San treated it carefully to avoid any trouble. The only problem he found, which wasn’t a problem at all, was how he couldn't see it directly, just through pictures. In spite of this, it was worth the pain and, most importantly, the money. It looked beautiful, it adorned his ear so perfectly almost as if San himself was made of flowers, smelled like jasmine and looked as majestic. 

That was at least the image that Wooyoung kept from their first meeting, San's smile and spontaneity, high tolerance to pain surprising the inner corners of Wooyoung’s mind. He didn't let himself fan over people. But something about San was engraved in his head, often finding himself lurking on the other’s photography Instagram page. Wooyoung remembered San’s handle since he sent him the picture of the tattoo through the DMs. He hadn't followed back as he usually didn't so, San and Wooyoung were nothing but client and customer. 

Until the day before the check-up Wooyoung scheduled. San had published a photo of himself, laying on a patch of green grass, smile as wide as it was humanly possible, the tattoo looking really good on his skin. At that, Wooyoung followed his photography page, the notification not going unnoticed on San’s phone. 

As soon as he stepped inside the studio for the second time, Yeosang greeted him with the same cheerfulness as the first time. They kept in touch through texts, San finding that Yeosang was a political science major, was also unexpectedly part of the theatre group of his campus and a fraternity member. They hadn't had time for coffee yet, although Yeosang planned to invite San to have dinner at his place. 

“Hi, San!”

“Yeosangie, what's up? You were right when you said we would see each other soon. ”

“I see the future. By the future, I mean the appointment schedule and my shifts.” Yeosang giggled. “So you’re here for the check-up?”

"Yes!" San nodded as he spoke, eyes darting the empty studio. It was almost closing anyway, San must have been the last client for Wooyoung that day. 

"Wooyoung is still with a client but I think it's not going to take much longer." Yeosang relaxed on his seat, tired eyes looking at San with curiosity. "Show me the tattoo!" San promptly pulled his hair and ear away to show the tattoo, now two weeks old. It looked perfectly fine, less vivid than how it was when freshly done. 

“It looks so cool.” Yeosang admired the little piece of art on San’s skin. “Wooyoung is such a skilled artist.”

"I'm pretty happy about it. Also, do you have anything to do after this? We could catch up like face to face." San suggested. 

"I was going to ask if you wanted to come over today after my shift.”

Before he continued, the door of the workroom opened, a tall girl exiting first, Wooyoung following to call San over.

"Then wait for me, I'll go with you." With that, San left the hall, leaving the girl taking care of the girl. Upon entering the room, San was unable to take his eyes off Wooyoung as he cleaned the space. He wore a sleeveless black shirt with a leather red choker, San almost gasped. He looked too hot. San almost felt bad for not wearing something extra nice, in hopes of making the other swoon.

“I’m sorry the studio is such a mess. The day was very long.” Wooyoung chuckled lightly as he usually did, always wearing a giant smile in his features. “How have you been?” The small talk set San a bit in an anxious fit. He really didn’t like small talk but they had already met last time and talked comfortably so what was his problem? Why did he have his guard up around Wooyoung when he actually felt so attracted to him? He was almost afraid of talking, afraid his tongue would betray his mind. The crimson choker looked so vibrant contrasted with his pale complex. San had to stop his thoughts. 

“I’m great. What about you?”

“I’m always fine. Sit here.” Wooyoung patted the recently cleaned seat to check the tattoo properly. “So, did you have any issue? No infections? Oh, this looks great, the tattoo is healing nicely. You’ve been doing all the steps I taught you right? Yeah, this looks amazing. I’m glad.” 

“I didn’t have any problems because I followed your advice.” San shot up when Wooyoung stopped rambling, the habit coming out more usual than the boy would like to admit. San found it cute. "Although it's sometimes itchy and I have to gather all my chakras to not touch it." 

"That's totally normal and please keep doing so. It's healing so well we can avoid an infection if you keep up the behavior." Wooyoung then gave him more tips, eyes ever so bright and full of energy, San could feel his own body get energized just by being around Wooyoung's loud personality. They hadn't had spent much time together but San really liked the aura the other emitted. He didn't know if his judgment was being blinded by his admiration, however, there was something about Wooyoung that made San curious. 

Before Wooyoung could say anything else, San suddenly blurted out, thoughts full of the wall canvases. "This is one of my favorite works." the boy pointed to the canvas next to the wall mirror, the design consisting of a green square from which lavender blossoms grew from. 

"Thank you. It’s lavender, my mom's birth flower. She was born in July." 

"Oh really? I was also born in July." Wooyoung smiled softly at that statement, eyes visibly turning endearing, the other couldn't help but almost blush. He knew flowers were very important to Wooyoung, one quick scroll through his Instagram could lead to that conclusion. "Do you know the meaning of lavender?" 

Wooyoung stepped closer to the canvas, fingers brushing against the painted flowers as if he longed for something, or someone. "Lavender symbolizes purity, calmness, and silence. Just like my mother. She was a very peaceful person." 

San only realized then the sensitive topic they touched on. A hinge of embarrassment and regret crossed his body, leaving him speechless for a good amount of time. Even if he wanted to wait for the other to continue talking as he did previously, he didn't. 

"I'm sorry." Was all San could muster, sliding off the chair to get closer to Wooyoung. It was the first time San had seen that type of negative emotion playing on Wooyoung's face and he didn't like it a single bit. It felt wrong. Too wrong. San was struck by the desire of wanting to protect Wooyoung from the world. 

Forgetting completely of their totally formal relationship, San's spontaneous brain cell commanded him to wrap his arms around Wooyoung, his mechanism of comfort working even with strangers. The moment San realized he was entirely stepping out of limits, Wooyoung actually accepted the hug, arms linking around San with the same intensity. He rested his head on San's shoulder, unintentionally taking in the soft cotton scent his shirt had. His blonde strands rustled on San's neck, almost making him ticklish. It felt so warm and cozy, Wooyoung almost forgot what a hug felt like, too caught up in running his business to occupy himself with one of the many pleasures life had.  
The hug was longer than a normal amount of time but both didn't even realize, which freed the room from any constraint. 

"I was thinking." Wooyoung walked away to clean one of his random utensils to make the conversation seem less intimate. It didn't work. "You didn't give me lavender vibes until now but… somehow you do give lavender vibes." Wooyoung confessed sheepishly, putting the utensils back in their place like he's talking about the weather. The casualness of his tone or his easy actions around the room didn't prevent the sudden disappearance of air in San's lungs. And again, for the seventh time (probably, he didn't count) that day, San acted out of spontaneity. 

"Do you want to go on a date with me?" 

ー

The sun was setting, the rush hour beginning, San was late for his tattoo appointment. His sixteenth to be exact, he liked to keep the number at check. Maybe to be able to proudly state the number when asked or to be sure of how many tattoos he needed to reach Wooyoung's number. San still needed eight if Wooyoung didn't do another in the meantime. 

Years have passed since San got his first tattoo, four to be exact. He had graduated and was about to finish his master's degree while Wooyoung owned a bigger studio, this time shared with another rising artist, Song Mingi. They were childhood friends that fate brought together. San was heading there, still ten minutes away, the underground was always the same thing. Wooyoung had already double texted him, anticipating the late arrival of his boyfriend. 

"I told you you couldn't be late!" Was the first thing Wooyoung yelled at San, the other still at the doorway of the studio. Mingi shot him an apologetic toothy grin, San knew Wooyoung too well to be aware that had had been freaking out around the studio before he had arrived. 

"I'm sorry, you know how the underground is." San whined, walking first towards Mingi to hand him the warm coffee he had purchased at the coffee shop across the street.  
"And you still bought coffee?" The photographer huffed at his constant nagging. 

San walked to his boyfriend, hugging him tightly. He received a few grunts and annoyed pats on the back before handing him the coffee. "Here. Drink this I bet you didn't eat anything the whole afternoon." 

"It's true." Mingi helped, Wooyoung already throwing daggers at him with his eyes. San laughed at their usual bickering. 

"You two are always ganging up on me." Wooyoung sighed dramatically, taking a sip of the still too hot coffee, the tip of the tongue burning instantly. "Anyways, Mingi you can go, I'll close today. Let's go, Sanie." 

"Cool! See you tomorrow!" Mingi quickly jumped from the front desk with his belongings, flying out of the studio. 

The couple entered Wooyoung's workroom, both very familiar with the space. Wooyoung had changed locations two months ago, this area of the city busier and the clients flooding faster. He had a tight schedule for three months planned in advance, Mingi falling not so far behind. 

San sat promptly on the chair, picking the topic he had in the back of his head since he left Yunho's flat. "Did Mingi say something about Yunho today?" Wooyoung moved fast, gathering all the materials he needed for the tattoo, stencil already in hand. 

"Roll up your arm sleeve." The blonde asked, sitting in his small cushion bench to begin drawing. "He did. What the fuck? I was going to ask you the same thing." Wooyoung chuckled at the thought of each other having the same thought process, it happened a lot but it always warmed Wooyoung's heart. "You want it here right?" Wooyoung placed the stencil in San's forearm, closer to the elbow. 

"Yes, perfect." San gave the green light. "So, Yunho told me Mingi proposed yesterday?" Wooyoung nodded. "Did he tell you the details? Yunho told me they were in the cinema watching the second sequel of Deadpool. Mingi just whispered at Yunho if he wanted to marry him."

"Yeah, what the fuck?" Wooyoung laughed, crankiness long forgotten. "He told me that Ryan Reynolds cracked a really funny stunt, the whole audience laughed loudly and immediately after roaring one of his contagious laughs he just dropped the question like that. No ring, no nothing. Just a bag of salted popcorn on his hand." San giggled at the last sentence. 

"That screams Mingi, I can't why explain why but it does." Wooyoung agreed. "So they're engaged to be married now. Even before us."

"Huh?" Wooyoung finished tracing the drawing, the stencil put away, eyes knitted with confusion. "You wanna get married?" Surprisingly, they never touched the subject. "Is this okay? I'm gonna start now." The machine already in hand. 

"Yes, that's it. You can start." San tried to relax when Wooyoung slid the needle on his skin, the touch familiar but still so foreign. "I don’t know. Do you wanna get married?" he rebounded the question, unsure of what to say. 

"I don't think it's necessary, to be honest. We already live together, own two cats and a lizard. Is our life going to change after marrying?" 

"I don't think it will. But we could make use of the gifts and the honeymoon." 

"Sanie, when did you become so materialistic?" Wooyoung accused him jokingly finding his sincerity always so sudden and raw. There was nothing San kept from Wooyoung, even the rotten crops every human has.

"I'm joking… Maybe." San received an eye-rolling as a response, the studio falling silent for a minute as Wooyoung was focused on the tattoo. San hummed a soft song he had been obsessed over the week, also in a way to distract himself from the pain. Wooyoung normally had a playlist rolling throughout the day but since he had already closed, he had turned off the laptop too. He had taken care of everything before San arrived, not wanting to be late. A glance at the wall clock was enough to make Wooyoung gasp. “I have ten minutes to finish this.” The voice cracked in the middle of the sentence.

“Please, it’s not that late yet. We have time.” A usual scenario repeated itself, Wooyoung stressing while San calmed them down. He truly felt like lavender to Wooyoung. 

“We can’t be late.”

“You made a reservation.”

“They’re picky.”

“Then we will just go to another place, I don’t care.”

“But I really wanted to eat some steak....” Wooyoung kept whining, eyebrows knitting in a fake upset fit that didn’t last long, his face quickly portraying the amount of focus he was making to do the tattoo. San knew that was the face he always pulled when he was performing a difficult task, normally with complex tattoos. 

“I can make you steak too.” San offered, voice thin.

“You let burn our steaks twice, I don’t trust you around expensive meat anymore.” Wooyoung shook his head.

“Hey! Have you not heard about a concept called development? I’ve been improving my cooking skills and soon I will be able to cook a steak so good you won’t feel the need to go to a restaurant to eat never again.” Both laughed at San’s eagerness.

“Fine, fine. But today I really want steak and it’s already late to do grocery shopping so can I wrap this up quickly? Don’t distract me.” 

“I’m not even doing anything to distract you.” The bickering never stopped until Wooyoung finished the tattoo, both already familiar with that type of exchange. Often people would find them loud, boisterous, too chaotic to function together, however, they proved wrong to everyone, especially to themselves. Four years of absolute disarray, joy, tears, lots of steaks, photos, and tattoos especially, could describe their relationship and the way they function. 

It was a lavender flower tattoo.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, find me at @meowhwa


End file.
